Do you view framers in your neighbourhood as competitors?

When there were 4 indie framers in town, we had breakfast together once a week! Yes, we would talk about Evil Customers, swap matboard, group buy, call each other to warn each other of Time Wasters, but mostly we talked about grandchildren.

One died, one moved away and one retired. Ours is the only one left of the group. The retired one and I still have breakfast once a week.
 
That is so cool, Ellen. So often it seems like anyone nearby is considered a dreaded enemy because of competition for business. How refreshing.
 
I am on the board of our "buy local" group with my nearest competitor.

Across town, Harry and I talk regularly and we are Prez and VP of the NE PPFA Chapter.

BOTH of them helped me out when I was without power just before Christmas!

I do some work for two different frames that are abotu one town away in opposite directions.

We help out with OOSs and other things on a regular basis.

Even the framers I don't talk to on a regular basis will call with "matboard emergencies" and the like.

We're all competitors, but other home-decor BBs and the craft stores take more than any of the little guys.
 
Same as above...a kind of friendly competition;), one of the local indy framers is one of my best friends. He's always coming over to borrow supplies, when ever I need something he's too low to part with anything:fire:. When we talked about taking the CPF exam together it somehow slipped my mind to remind him:shrug:...LOL. but we where standing in each others wedding and started framing in the same small rinky-dink college art store:D. Some others I don't know so well, but we are all adults and their is plenty of business to go around.
 
Freindly competition. Know 4 of 6 local framers. Have stopped at 1 and spent a couple of hours talking, another comes in once in a blue moon and chats, another has "gone in" with me on plexi glas purchases, and all would help me if I needed a mat board or moulding in a pinch. I've ordered mats with some to get one of us over the "minimum" and have called or been called for hardware. 4 framers have closed shop, and when they were open I did work with 3 of them talked with the other.

Only had one framer neighbor I didn't respect. He's gone out of the framing business.

Then there's the grumblers! We share, we fight, we commiserate, we argue. Welcome to my neighborhood!
 
When I opened my shop a little over 2 years ago, I went into it with the idea that somehow I needed to be different than the other shops around me. My niche is that I have over 5,000 frame samples to choose from, and we turn projects around within a week.

I think everyone has a niche, right? I have no problem recommending other shops to customers if they offer services that I do not (hand carving, guilding and repair, for example).

However, I have a shop not so far away who has made my life more difficult than it should be, using foul tactics, etc. So sorry they view my business as such a threat...
 
Lisa, the guy that made my life heck has gone away. Stick to your guns. We all have a niche, and I do know which framer to turn to when I have questions or need something.
 
Being new, I haven't made many local contacts. The two I have spoken with and/or met have been extremely nice and helpful. One joined a liner for me in a pinch. She's retiring and is actually my closest competitor. Her plan was to sell but I haven't heard if that's happening. The other is WAY across town and prez of the local chapter.
 
Bob,

I didn't want to say it, but my nemesis is also going out now, too. Thing is, I think it's really sad. They were great framers and had a really nice business.
 
Every shop within a 50 mile radius is a competitor, that being said, I do have good relationships with other shops which includes me or them coming into the shop to say hi. You can have friendly competition.
 
Every shop within a 50 mile radius is a competitor, that being said, I do have good relationships with other shops which includes me or them coming into the shop to say hi. You can have friendly competition.

There's another frame shop about five miles from our location. We think they are great guys and do awesome work. We don't have anything against them, but for some reason they can't stand us.

Last year they needed some help during the holidays and asked if they could borrow our part timer, we said sure. A few months back we called looking for some last minute mats, and magically they were too low to share at the time.

We don't stress, but we've been told they are stressed :nuts:
 
There's another frame shop about five miles from our location. We think they are great guys and do awesome work. We don't have anything against them, but for some reason they can't stand us.

Last year they needed some help during the holidays and asked if they could borrow our part timer, we said sure. A few months back we called looking for some last minute mats, and magically they were too low to share at the time.

We don't stress, but we've been told they are stressed :nuts:

Interesting. We have a similar situation. All the other frames shops in the area we know and are friendly with them, trade services, materials, etc. One frameshop has no relationship with any of the others including mine. They have been known to talk down about everyone elses framing, even though there is no merit to such comments. We can only assume they somehow feel threatened or so highly competitive that they feel it necessary to insult the other's work.

But I'm afraid it sometimes comes back to bite them, as we've had many people leave their place and come to us, repeating what they've said about us or some other frame shop. They also have a bad habit of being rude at times. We've gained some customers for that too.
 
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